Corn-sheller.



0. J. WIDMER. I CORN SHELLBR. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 19, 1907.

Patented Dec. 1, 1908.

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CORN SHELLER} APPLIGATION FILED SEPT. 19,1907.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. CHARLES .T. WIDMER, OF SIDNEY, OHIO,ASSIGNOR TO THE PHILIP SMITH MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SIDNEY, OHIO, ACORPORATION 9F OHIO.

GORN-SHELLER. I

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 1, 1908.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES J. WIDMER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Sidney, in the county of Shelby and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Corn Shellers, of whichthe following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in a corn sheller, especially inreference to the construction and mounting of the fan, and the box inwhich said fan operates, and in the manner of securing together thecasing members of the sheller and securing to these the circumferentialbox or fan chamber. It also includes provisions for adjusting thesheller inwardly and outwardly.

My construction enables me to overcome some potent objections to thecorn shellers now in. use, in that it provides a fan, and a circularchamber therefor which are easily separated from the sheller casing andmay therefore be readily replaced or repaired, and I am further enabledto adjust the sheller member as required. to attain the highestefliciency thereof, in view of the varying condition of the grain.

Reference being made to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a sideelevation of the cornsheller with my improvements made a part thereof;Fig. 2 is a horizontal longitudinal section through Fi 1; Fig. 3 is anend View from the right 0 Fig. '1, showing especially the manner ofsecuring the circumferential fan chamber to the casing; Fig. 4 is a Viewin section of a sleeve upon which the fan is mounted showing thearrangements for adjusting the sheller member.

In the drawings which are hereby made a part of the specification and inwhich the same reference numerals designate the same parts throughout, 1and 2 are the upright frame members supporting thereon the beam 3, towhich the casing members 4- and 5 and the hopper members 6 and 7 aresecured preferably by means of the bolts indicated at 8; the sheller ismounted horizontally upon the frame members, and longitudinally throughthe center thereof extends the shaft 9, carrying at one end thereof thepulley 10, over which a belt is adapted to operate for driving thesheller.

The shaft 9 is j ournaled in the bearings 11 and 12mounted in the framemembers 13 and 14. Adjacent the bearing 11, is mounted the hopper formedof the upper portion 6, and the lower portion 7 in which are the feedmembers 15, mounted upon the shaft 9. The hopper at one end abutsagainst the cas ing members 4 and 5, which inclose the sheller member orconical portion 16 of the sheller. This conical portion is provided witha plurality of lugs 17 arranged on the convex surface thereoflongitudinally, opposite to similar lugs 18 positioned upon the innerface of the casing members 4 and 5; the said lugs are separated by ashort interval, so that when the corn has been fed outwardly from thehopper by the members 15, it will be carried upon the conical shellerportion and the grains will be removed from the cob through the contactof the latter with the opposing sets of lugs, the conical form of thesheller also operating to bear the corn forward towards the fan chamber.The spider 19 mounted upon the shaft 9 is arranged to support the flaredend of the conical sheller.

Mounted upon the shaft 9 adjacent its outer end is the spider 20, at theends of the arms of which are mounted plates or fan members 21; thisspider 20, or as it may be called, the fan, is made separate from theremainder of the mechanism. This is an important feature in cornshellers, as the fan in operation is much more likely to be injured orbroken than other parts of the mechanism, and my construction thereofseparate from the remainder of the mechanism renders its removalpossible whenever it may be desired, and upon being repaired it may beeasily replaced on the shaft 9.

In order that the fan 20, may readily be removed from the shaft, Iconstruct the circumferential fan chamber 22 separate from the casing,so that said fan chamber may be readily secured to the casing ifdesired, by means of the bolts 23, passing through the flanges 24through the fan chamber. This chamber 22 is preferably made in two parts25 and 26, the latter having a chute 27, provided thereon through whichthe corn is driven by the fan into a conductor. The sections 25 and 26are secured to the frame pieces 3 by means of flanges 28 thereon throughwhich are inserted bolts 29. In case access to the fan should bedesired, the bolts 23 and 29 may readily be loosened and one of thesections lifted off quickly and easily; if injury has occurred to thefan, the latter-may then be taken from the shaft 9. Not only are theremoval and the positioning of the fan and the fan chamber more readilyaccomplished by forming the same separate from the rest of themechanism, but the said parts are more easily constructed by forming thefan separate from the conical sheller member 16, and the fan chamberseparate from the casing 5 w ien the fan has been broken, it isnecessary only to remove the fan and repair the same, or provide a newone if necessary; if the fan were formed integral with the conicalsheller member, a break in one would necessitate the replacing of thewhole construction, or at least the removal of the whole constructionfrom, the fan casing. This is obviated in my construction; to remove thefan from the shaft, I disconnect the fan casing from the conical portionof the casing, and being formed in an upper and a lower section, itsremoval may readily be effected. Thereupon I may disconnect theframework at the end adjacent to the fan casing, and remove the fanoutwardly off of the shaft, meanwhile supporting the remainder of thesheller con struction by props or in any other convenient manner. Theframework being bolted together and the casing being secured thereto bymeans of bolts, this process of disconnecting may be readily performed.

In Fig. 4 I show a modified form of construction designed for thepurpose of giving the conical sheller member a movement longitudinallywith the shaft whenever desired, while the fan is maintained in itscentral position in the fan chamber; the construction for accomplishingthese purposes consists essentially in the provision of a sleeve 30which is journaled in the frame member 14 adjacent the middle portionthereof, and which contains on its inner face a seat 32 adapted toreceive the spline 33 which is positioned on the shaft 9. Adjacent itsouter end the sleeve 30 is provided with the set screw 31 which passesthrough said sleeve and engages said shaft; if the set screw beloosened, the shaft may be moved longitudinally, thereby positioning thepulley 10 at a point somewhat farther removed from the frame member 13than is shown in Fig. 4. Likewise, the feed members 15 being fixed onthe shaft 9, will be moved with said shaft to occupy a position slightlyto the right of that shown in Fig. 4:; also, the sheller member 16,being fixed on the shaft 9, will move therewith. The movement of theshaft, therefore, causes an adjustment of the parts just noted either tothe right or to the left, as desired; the important purpose to beaccomplished by this longitudinal adjustment of the shaftand the partsnoted, is the positioning of the conical sheller member 16 in the casing4, 5, whereby the lugs or teeth 18 are positioned more closely to thelugs or teeth 17,0r more remotely therefrom, as desired. This adjustmentof the conical sheller member to is rendered useful and advisable by thecondition of the corn or grain which is shelled, inasmuch as it iscommon experience that damp corn or grain will require a dill'erent.adjustment of the shelling parts from that required by dry corn orgrain. My improvement, therefore, provides for an adjustment to-satisfythe condition of the grain.

As shown, the fan is mounted on the sleeve, which, leing keyed to theshaft, is rotatable therewith; the use of the spline in connection withthe grooved seat, renders it. possible to slide the shaft longitudinallywithout disturbing the position of the sleeve; thus the fan isconstantly in central position in the fan chamber.

Essentially, therefore, my improved corn sheller comprises the provisionof a longitudinally adjustable shaft carrying lived thereon the conicalsheller member, which is consequently adjustable longitudinally in itscasing, thereby providing for etlicient operation for damp grain as wellas for dry grain; this adjustment of the sheller member, while theposition of the fan in the fan chamber remains the same, is anexceedingly important feature. Further, the fan is formed separate fromthe sheller member and may be removed from the shaft without removingthe sheller member; further, the fan chamber or casing is formedindepend ent of the sheller member casing, and is separable therefrom atthe desire of the operator. The provision of separable parts for a cornsheller, combined with the adjustable sheller member, renders my.improved sheller easily constructed and disassembled, and all parts arereadily accessible; if any part should. be broken or injured in use, itcan readily be removed and a similar part supplied to replace the same,without replacing the entire sheller and fan construction, as isnecessary where these parts are cast integral. In my construction,therefore, no matter what the condition of the grain may be, the shellermember may be adjusted to operate etfcctively thereon, and to remove thesame forwardly, without leaving any residue as is inevitable inconstructions where the sheller members are not adjustablelongitudinally; although the sheller member is adjustable with the shaftin a longitudinal direction, yet the fan should always occupy centralposition in the fan casing, and by constructing these parts sep arablyfrom each other and mounting them on the shaft so as to admit ofmovement independently of each other, I greatly improve the constructionand inc ease the etlicicncy of the operation.

lVhat I claim is:

1. In a corn sheller comprising a frame. a hopper mounted thereon, acasing mounted thereon, a fan casing also mounted on said frame, alongitudinally adjustable shaft journaled in said frame, a shellermember mounted on said shaft to be rotatable and adjustable therewith, asleeve surrounding one end of said shaft, a fan in said fan casin gcarried by said sleeve, and means uniting said shaft and sleeve wherebysaid fan is rotatable with said shaft and removable therefromindependently of said sheller member.

2. In a corn sheller comprising a frame, a sheller casing carried bysaid frame, a fan casing carried by said frame, a sleeve mountad on saidframe, a shaft having one end journaled in said frame and the other endmounted in said sleeve and constructed to be adjustable longitudinallyof said frame, a sheller member borne upon said shaft and adjustabletherewith longitudinally in said sheller casing, and a fan borne uponsaid sleeve centrally in saidfan casing and rotatable with said shaft,whereby said sheller member may be adjusted without disturbing theposition of said fan.

3. A corn sheller comprising a frame, a shaftrotatably mounted thereonand bearing a feed member, a sheller member, and a fan member thereon, acasing for said fan member formed independently-of the casing for saidother members and adapted to be removably secured thereto, and anintermediate bearing member upon said shaft upon which said fan ismounted, whereby the shaft may be longitudinally adjusted independentlyof any movement of said fan, and means for engaging said bearing memberwith said shaft to be actuated thereby.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.

CHARLES J. WIDMER.

Witnesses B. D. HEoK, M. J. YOUNG.

